Slovakia

In between being in Vienna, and going to Saltzburg I spent a bit of time in Bratislava, Slovakia.  Its a great city that has some amazing views, and what is currently my favorite pub in Europe!

Compared with all of the views of Bratislava, I had from various movies (Hostel, Eurotrip) I was quite happy to see its a little different. 

Screenshot from Eurotrip in Bratislava

Actual Bratislava

I really enjoyed my brief time in Bratislava, there is a fantastic free walking tour that takes you around town and they have a nice castle (Rebuild completed in 2005).  They also have the most fantastic blue church I have ever seen (It looks like a fairytale).  

In my favorite bar, I thought I would try all 3 of the local dishes in one go.  I asked for the mixed plate, and the waiter looked at me a little bit funny before asking: "Are you sure you want that".  I assured him I did (it was a little expensive at almost 10euro), and he agreed to bring it.  About 10 min later I found out why he had asked.  The plate was actually 3 full size plates carved into a wooden plater containing Bryndzove Halusky (potatoes with sheep's cheese), Bryndzove Pirohy (Perogies), and Strapacky (Cabbage also known as Cabbage Halusky).  All three were delicious but I don't think I even managed to eat half as they are all very heavy!  

Some more pictures:

My huge plate of food.

The old national theatre building.

 

Cumil the "Typical Slovak Worker" (According to my tour guide not me!)  More Info

 

The amazing blue church! ... Just like a fairytale!

Austria

Well I am quickly falling behind on my blog posts.  That said the next stop on my Christmas trip was a Vienna in Austria.  Unfortunately, I was not able to book a seat on the train from Budapest to Vienna, and so I ended up sitting on the floor between two cars.  After a less then perfect trip, I got to Vienna and wandered off to find my hostel.  After checking in I started to wander around town and check out Vienna's many beautiful sites. I ended up meeting a few people in the hostel to wander with and have a few drinks with. 

The palaces and churches in Vienna are really quite nice, and they are conveniently mostly in one area so you can walk in an almost straight line and see all of them.

After being in Vienna I had a brief stopover in Bratislava (next blog post) and then I headed to Salzberg to visit Vera. We had a great time going around the city of Salzberg and after a short wander up to the castle on top of the mountain we went for beers followed by chocolate cake.  I had forgotten how much I missed having mountains around (Ottawa and Malmo are both very flat!).  After our snack we headed off for dinner at the top of a mountain in a Gasthaus. To get to the gasthaus, we hiked all the way to the top of the mountain in the snow.  Once we arrived and enjoyed dinner with beers and then hit the schnapps.  As we were the last ones left in the place the owner came by to chat and buy us one last round of schnapps.  After the schnapps we took sleds down the mountain to get back to our car.  I only crashed a few times, and it was great fun! 

The next day after an amazing lunch with Vera's grandmother it was off to Croatia!

Pictures:

Schönbrunn Palace

Schlosspark

 

The Rathaus 

 

Austria's Parliament

 The Hofburg

 

In Salzberg statues live in glass houses

 The River through Salzberg.

 Me and my Sachertorte!

The view from Vera's kitchen.